China's coal-rich Shanxi makes strides in high-quality development

TAIYUAN -- Shanxi, a major coal-producing province in North China, has made continuous advances in high-quality development over the past decade, according to a press briefing held Wednesday.

Shanxi's accumulated coal output over the past 10 years reached nearly 10 billion metric tons, accounting for about a quarter of China's total, said Lin Wu, secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, adding that Shanxi's coal output is expected to reach 1.3 billion tons in 2022.

While ensuring China's energy supply, Shanxi has strived to push forward the transition of its energy supply structure by adopting measures such as accelerating the coordinated development of new energy and digitalization of its coal sector, among other efforts, Lin noted.

Official data showed that the non-coal sector contributed 7.1 percentage points to Shanxi's year-on-year economic growth of 9.1 percent in 2021.

Over the past decade, Shanxi also made efforts to improve its business environment and promote innovation and entrepreneurship.

Since the beginning of 2021, 365 high-tech enterprises and three state-level science and technology innovation platforms, such as key state laboratories, have settled in Shanxi, according to the press briefing.

Shanxi governor Lan Fo'an said the province has made great progress in improving the environment and people's livelihood.

From 2017 to 2021, the ratio of days with good air quality in Shanxi increased from 65.7 percent to 72.1 percent, while the ratio of water categorized as good quality grew from 55.2 percent to 72.3 percent, said Lan, adding that the province's forest coverage rate has exceeded the national average.

Shanxi has lifted 3.29 million people out of poverty over the years and, for many years in a row, the province spent more than 80 percent of its fiscal expenditure on improving people's livelihood, Lan said.